Gospel and Saint of the day: 18 January 2020

First book of Samuel 9,1-4.17-19.10,1a.
There was a man from Benjamin called Kis - son of Abièl, son of Zeror, son of Becoràt, son of Afìach, son of a Benjaminite -, a brave man.
He had a son called Saul, tall and handsome: there was no one more handsome than he among the Israelites; from the shoulder up he exceeded anyone else of the people.
Now the donkeys of Kis, Saul's father, were lost and Kis said to his son Saul: "Come on, take one of the servants with you and leave immediately in search of the donkeys."
The two crossed the mountains of Ephraim, passed on to the land of Salisa, but did not find them. Then they went to the land of Saalim, but they were not there; then they traveled through the territory of Benjamin and here too they did not find them.
When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord revealed to him: “Here is the man I told you about; he will have power over my people. "
Saul approached Samuel in the middle of the door and asked him: "Do you want to show me the house of the seer?".
Samuel replied to Saul: “I am the seer. Precedes on high ground. Today you two are going to eat with me. I will dismiss you tomorrow morning and show you what you think;
Samuel then took the ampoule of the oil and poured it on his head, then kissed it saying: “Behold, the Lord has anointed you chief over his people Israel. You will have power over the people of the Lord and you will free him from the hands of the enemies around him. This will be the sign that the Lord himself anointed you over his house:

Salmi 21(20),2-3.4-5.6-7.
Lord, the king rejoices in your power,
how much he rejoices in your salvation!
You satisfied the desire of his heart,
you have not rejected the vow of his lips.

You come to meet him with wide blessings;
place a crown of fine gold on his head.
Vita asked you, you granted him,
long days forever, without end.

Great is his glory for your salvation,
wrap it with majesty and honor;
you make it a blessing forever,
you shower him with joy before your face.

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark 2,13-17.
At that time, Jesus went out again along the sea; the whole crowd came to him and he taught them.
As he passed, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax office, and said, "Follow me." He got up and followed him.
While Jesus was at the table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners joined the table with Jesus and his disciples; in fact there were many who followed him.
Then the scribes of the sect of the Pharisees, seeing him eat with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples: "How come he eats and drinks in the company of tax collectors and sinners?".
Having heard this, Jesus said to them: «It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners ».

18 JANUARY

BLESSED MARIA TERESA BANDS

Torriglia, Genoa, 1881 - Cascia, 18 January 1947

Born in 1881 in Torriglia, in the Genoese hinterland of a very religious bourgeois family, despite the opposition of the family, in 1906 she entered the Augustinian monastery of Santa Rita a Cascia which she was abbessed from 1920 until her death, in 1947. She became the propagator of the devotion to Saint Rita also thanks to the periodical "From the bees to the roses"; he created the "beehive of Santa Rita" to accommodate the "apette", the little orphans. He manages to build a sanctuary which he will not see completed and which will be consecrated four months after his death. Its existence is marked by serious illness starting with a breast cancer with which it lives for 27 years. It is no coincidence that today she is invoked by the faithful affected by this disease. Disappeared on January 18, 1947, John Paul II proclaimed her blessed on October 12, 1997. (Avvenire)

PRAYER

O God, author and source of all holiness, we thank you because you wanted to raise Mother Teresa Fasce to the glory of the Blessed. Through his intercession give us your Spirit to guide us in the way of holiness; revive our Hope, make our whole life oriented to You so that, forming a single heart and a single soul we can be authentic witnesses of your resurrection. Give us to accept every evidence that you will allow with simplicity and joy in imitation of Blessed M. Teresa and S. Rita who have sanctified themselves by leaving us their shining example and, if it is your will, grant us the grace that we confidently invoke.

Father, Ave and Gloria.

Blessed Teresa Fasce, pray for us